TRZ HADZICI
"It is frankly far from certain that this is actually a Bosnian helmet. It was acquired from Bosnia, sold as a Bosnian helmet, and some research showed there there is or was a Bosnian composite helmet manufacturer trading as 'TRZ-HADZICI' who still appear to have a web-presence here selling de-mining equipment, with a photograph of a helmet not unlike this one. The problem is that the shell of the helmet is extremely similar to that of a Croatian Nial/Sestan-Busch product, and therefor may either actually *be* a N/S-B product or perhaps more excitingly an export version produced with specific changes for the Bosnian military."
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This helmet should have a three-point chinstrap rig, but the rear attachment has been torn off.
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"The main differences between this and its
Croat cousin are in the chinstrap and liner. And the liner bolts.
And the colour. Other than that it is really rather similar..."
Here's some pics - the Nial Busch
(on the right is each case) is blue, believed to be Police
issue,
the Bosnian is brownish, and (perhaps interestingly) has a two-character
felt-pen marking on front, back, and both sides. Test product?
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Photographs supplied by
GREG PICKERSGILL
"... the shells are virtually identical if not actually so. The
liner bolts are in the same places, although the bolts themselves seem
to be almost imperceptibly different on the two helmets. Both have
three-point chinstrap fittings although the Bosnian is not attached to
anything, the rear loop of the chinstrap flopping about uselessly and
with no sign it ever was attached. The two helmets do have different
liners, but again there are similarities as well as differences. The
chinstrap catches are definately different!
See the interior - clear differences in the liner headband, but the
cradle is the same form in both. The chinstrap catch is different, the
known Croat has Velcro strips for chinstrap adjustment and the other
doesn't. Looking at the rear of the interior you may see that there is
an unused liner bolt which holds the rear element of the 3-point
chinstrap in the Croat, but nothing in the Bosnian. There is nothing on
the rear loop of the Bosnian chinstrap which could attach to anything;
perhaps part is missing, but no obvious sign of damage.
There are no makers marks of any kind in the Bosnian, the only marks being the felt-pen notations.
Note also that despite apparent differences in size in the photos the two helmets are identical in size in reality."
Some more information, from Marek Skrzynski -
"I've purchased one of these Bosnian helmets and there was a label inside indicating "TRZ-HADZICI" as a manufacturer.
"TRZ-HADZICI d.d." (TRZ - stands for TEHNIKI REMONTNI ZAVOD - Technical Overhaul/ Repair Institute) was / is located at ul. 6 Mart Bb, Hadzici, 71240, Bosnia and Herzegovina near Sarajevo. TRZ Hadzici D D is / was a private company categorized under Ordnance and Accessories (Unclassified) Manufacturers employing about 70 workers.
Helmets were manufactured as a copy of the Croatian Sestan-Busch Bk-9 helmet (but of lesser ballistic protection). Used from around 1999 until recently. Unfortunately I don't know the actual model designation for this Bosnian version. There is a military designation on the label: "5010" but that's all I was able to read. The label is made of just paper and loosely glued to the shell."
Further to this, I also acquired another, complete, example, and here are pics of the rear chinstrap mounting (broken in the one shown above) and of the label, which as said above, was loosely glued to the helmet - so loosely that it had fallen off in transit!
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Another note regarding TRZ HADZICI; in the entry for the M89, issued to the "Milicija" MUP troops here, our man Sergej Culumarevic mentions that "the green army ones seem to have the "Hadzici" manufacturer stamp in the dome". Does this imply that Hadzici made the M89 series?